Lagos to begin $3bn Green Line rail project linking Marina to Lekki by Dec

The Lagos State Government has announced that construction of the $3 billion Green Line rail project, connecting Marina to the Lekki corridor, will commence in December 2025.

The announcement was made by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, in a statement posted on the official X account of the Lagos State Government on Monday.

Mr. Osiyemi noted that extensive feasibility studies and stakeholder consultations had been carried out along the Lekki-Epe corridor in preparation for the project.

According to the statement, the project will be implemented in phases and is expected to take between two and three years to complete. The first phase will cover the stretch from Lekki First Tollgate to Epe, while the second phase, starting from Marina, will feature an on-water segment.

The statement read in part, “The government has conducted extensive stakeholder engagements and feasibility studies along the Lekki-Epe Expressway corridor because the Green Line project will commence in December. The project will take about two to three years, beginning from Marina all the way to Epe, and will come in phases  with the first phase from Lekki First Tollgate to Epe and the second phase from Marina being on water.” 

The announcement comes after intensified enforcement activities along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, where authorities have cleared encroachments and restored wetlands essential to the Green Line’s right-of-way.

The 70-kilometre Green Line will run from Marina to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, featuring 17 stations along a mix of elevated and at-grade tracks. The line begins at Marina, passes through Victoria Island, joins the Lekki-Epe Expressway, and continues through Ajah, Sangotedo, and the Lekki Free Zone.

Stations will feature modern designs, including pedestrian bridges, elevators, escalators, and a depot near Sangotedo, alongside a 15-hectare parking facility at the Lekki Free Zone. 

Trains will operate in eight-car B-type sets, reaching speeds of up to 100 km/h and a minimum headway of three minutes, with a projected capacity of 35,000 passengers per hour in each direction.

On April 9, 2025, a video released by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) confirmed the estimated $3 billion cost of the project and outlined its design elements and alignment.

It was gathered that the federal government provided N146.14 billion as partial counterpart funding for the project in the 2025 budget, following a tripartite agreement signed with the China Harbour Engineering Company to design, finance, and operate the rail line.